Beck Off to Promising Start at Quebec Championship


Chip Beck eagled his final hole en route to a 7-under 65 and the first-round lead in the Quebec Championship. The 54-hole, $1.6 million Champions Tour event began Friday at La Tempete Golf Club in Quebec City.

Starting play on the 10th tee, the 57-year-old Beck recorded four birdies on his front nine to make the turn in 4-under 32. On the home half, he tacked on two more birdies - and a bogey - before closing out with an eagle on the par-5 ninth.

Beck, a four-time winner on the regular PGA Tour, has yet to secure a title on the over-50 circuit.

Tied for second after 66s are fellow Americans Duffy Waldorf and Craig Thomas, while two behind Beck are Brad Faxon, Loren Roberts and P.H. Horgan III.

Tied for seventh after posting 68s are Gary Hallberg, Blaine McCallister, Jay Haas, Fred Funk and defending champion Esteban Toledo of Mexico. Another 14 players had 69s.

Bernhard Langer, the runaway leader in the 2014 Charles Schwab Cup race, and Fred Couples, winner of last week's Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary, aren't playing in Quebec.

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/champions/leaderboard.html.